Saturday, 12 July 2014

Pinnate Tansy Mustard: Descurainia pinnata


Pinnate Tansy Mustard looks very much like the Pineapple Weed previously mentioned, except that the leaves are more feathered with symmetrical branching look, unlike the PW which has more carrot-leaf look to it.

Yes it is edible, much like any mustard greens (no I haven't tried it, being the side of the street plant). Another cousin of it looks similar, Flixweed, which is an introduced species from Europe. Tansy Mustard is native to North America.

The seeds were used by the native North Americans as food, and has been traded prior to the introduction of modern grains, like wheat. It is, however, toxic to livestock, which is why this plant is not very popular with farmers.

1 comment:

  1. Hello and best wishes for 2022 !
    I'm writing a short note for Digitalis, a local amateur botanical review in center France. It deals with a recent article by Elizabeth Pennisi in Science about airborne plant DNA. Pinnate tansy mustard is cited in her paper and I would like to put a photograph to illustrate my note. Would you allow me to take one of yours, and how should I word the credit ?
    Sincerely,
    Christian Gauvrit

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